Former Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, a longtime congressional leader and former Senate GOP whip, has died at age 84.
Kyl’s family announced Thursday that he died from complications related to a neurological disease after withdrawing from public life.
He represented Arizona in Congress for nearly three decades, serving first in the House and later in the Senate.
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Kyl entered the House in 1987 after winning Arizona’s Fourth Congressional District and served four terms there.
He won election to the Senate in 1994, beginning an eighteen-year tenure that ultimately placed him in Republican leadership.
Kyl served as Senate Republican whip from 2007 through 2013, working closely with then-leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
He retired from elected office in 2013 but returned briefly after Sen. John McCain died in 2018.
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Then-Gov. Doug Ducey appointed Kyl to McCain’s seat, and Kyl served until resigning December 31, 2018.
Ducey remembered Kyl Thursday as both a major Arizona leader and an important personal mentor.
“Jon Kyl gave Arizona nearly three decades of principled, thoughtful leadership,” Ducey wrote while announcing his condolences.
Ducey also said Kyl gave him valuable mentorship and friendship before adding, “I’ll miss him deeply.”
Former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, who served alongside Kyl, described his predecessor as one of Arizona’s most effective officials.
“Arizona has lost a giant,” Flake wrote following news of Kyl’s death.
Flake praised Kyl’s diligence, effectiveness, integrity and devotion to public service during their years in Washington.
Arizona Senate Republicans similarly described Kyl as a statesman whose policy expertise accompanied firm conservative convictions.
“Arizona has lost one of its finest statesmen,” the caucus said in a statement Thursday.
The statement credited Kyl with strengthening national defense, protecting taxpayers, advancing conservative policies and helping secure Arizona’s water future.
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Kyl became especially influential on Western water policy long before his election to the United States Senate.
As an Arizona attorney, he helped shape the state’s landmark 1980 groundwater code before entering Congress.
In 2004, Kyl authored legislation establishing one of the nation’s largest tribal water-rights settlements.
The agreement secured major long-term water rights for the Gila River Indian Community after years of negotiation.
McConnell once called Kyl’s work ethic “legendary,” citing years of behind-the-scenes work advancing the settlement.
“There wasn’t anybody else who could do that water deal,” Kyl said in a 2006 interview.
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Arizona State University later named its Kyl Center for Water Policy in recognition of his extensive work.
Center director Sarah Porter said Kyl consistently considered how policy decisions would affect future generations.
“He’s always sort of cared about the public good,” Porter said while reflecting on his approach.
Kyl also played prominent roles on national security, taxes, immigration and judicial nominations throughout his Senate career.
He backed border fencing and later bipartisan immigration legislation offering legal status and temporary guest-worker provisions, though it failed.
Kyl was also a strong supporter of Israel and became a prominent Republican voice on national-defense issues.
He served as a guide for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during Kavanaugh’s contentious 2018 confirmation process.
President Donald Trump praised Kyl after his 2018 Senate appointment, calling him “the extraordinary senator.”
Kyl was born in Oakland, Nebraska, in 1942 and later attended the University of Arizona.
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He met his wife, Caryll, at the university and earned both undergraduate and law degrees there.
In December 2025, Kyl announced that a neurological disease causing dementia would force his withdrawal from public life.
Kyl said then that he considered himself fortunate despite the difficult diagnosis confronting him and his family.
His family’s Thursday statement emphasized both his public service and the private faith guiding his personal life.
“We know that Jon belonged to all of Arizona,” the family said while announcing his death.
They described Arizona as a state he “loved and explored with vigor, curiosity, and wonder.”
The family said serving Arizona and the nation was a privilege and responsibility he honored and respected.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell called Kyl “in the truest sense of the word, a statesman.”
Mitchell also praised his efforts protecting children and sexual-crime victims through changes to federal evidentiary rules.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
